How Blooom Uses Olympic Skills to go for the 401k Gold

In just a few days the Olympic Games will get underway: The world’s best will be going toe to toe to determine who will take home the gold. Did you know that getting a gold medal pays? For US athletes, it means $25,000 into their bank account. Not too shabby…

$25K is a great payday, but you don’t have to be a determined Olympian to optimize your finances. After all, blooom estimates that its average client saves more than $41,000 in hidden investment fees alone over their working careers*.

Lessons from Olympic athletes

Athlete: Ryan Zapolski

Discipline: Men’s Hockey

401k tip: Blocking hidden fees

As goalie for Team USA, Zapolski’s job is keeping the puck out of the net. The more the opponents score, the harder everyone on his team has to work to win. Likewise, when investors are incurring high fees, their investments have to work double time to make up for money that’s being taken out of the account. Just like Zapolski does with the puck, blooom works to keep hidden investment fees out of your proverbial 401k net.

Athlete: Nina Roth

Discipline: Women’s Curling

401k tip: Risk tolerance

In curling, the goal is literally to get as close to the target as possible. The same goes for retirement. When Roth throws her curling stone, she has to make sure she throws it aggressively enough to reach the target, but not too hard—risking missing it completely. As the stone gets closer to its goal, her teammates work to direct the stone down the perfect path. When you tell blooom your glide path (years to retirement), we adjust your investments and risk accordingly, to help you hit your goals.

Athlete: Nathan Chen

Discipline: Men’s Figure Skating

401k tip: Diversification

Chen might be known for his vaunted quad jumps, but it’s not all he does on the ice. He also skates gracefully, mixing in other moves like the camel spin, step sequence and the Salchow. Like a balanced, diversified portfolio, Chen knows it takes more than just one move (or fund) to win the gold.

Athlete: Kendall Wesenberg

Discipline: Women’s Skeleton

401k Tip: Rebalancing

When Wesenberg is flying down a patch of ice at over 80 MPH, she knows it’s the little tweaks, like a tilt of the head or shift of the shoulders, that make the difference between winning and losing. The same goes for your 401k. While your path to retirement doesn’t move nearly as fast as the skeleton, blooom regularly makes small tweaks to your investments. This helps your 401k get on the medal podium when you cross the retirement finish line.

Athlete: J.R. Celski

Discipline: Men’s Short Track Speed Skating

401k Tip: Getting professional help

Short track speed skating is riddled with obstacles and other competitors to knock you off track… or out of the race completely. Knowing how and when to react will be an important factor in Celski’s ability to win the race. Much like the chaos of the short track, the stock market goes up, down and all-around over the course of a person’s lifetime. Having a trusted partner to help you read what’s happening and make sense of it all can be the difference in making the right move or crashing out of the race.

Ready to join the team?

Becoming an Olympian is hard work and so is having a great 401k. Luckily for you, rocking your 401k isn’t an individual sport. Linking up your 401k to blooom is like joining the Dream Team.
U-S-A! 401k!

* $41,456 investment fee savings based on median blooom client 401k balance of $47,131. Assuming $5,000 annual contribution, pre-blooom investment expense ratio of .56%, post-blooom investment expense ratio of .22%, and 30 years until retirement as of January 9, 2018. Blooom is limited to the funds available in your employer sponsored retirement account. There is no guarantee blooom can or will reduce your fund expenses.